Highlights of the Day
by Silence Is Not Golden
Summary: At the insistence of Natsu, he had signed up a mission for his team. But, Gray and Erza can't come. So it's just Lucy and him, err and Happy too. A simple quest, it should've been but it became troubling as it progressed. The door closed. Hands tightening. Something falls, and now two bodies are pressed together. Lean in...Happy don't interrupt. NaLu
1. Hightlight of the Day

****Disclaimer: All characters mentioned below belong to Hiro Mashima but I am sure everybody knew that already.****

**Hey** **guys! I thought I'd try a NaLu fic. This is my first NaLu. Be gentle XD**

**Note: The beginning mentions a part from episode 50: Special Request - Watch Out For the Guy You Like!**

…

"Hey did ya hear?" Lucy Heartfilia's ear grew like a chia pet. She busied herself by pretending to read a magazine at hand, but her true intentions were that of a darker nature. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Spying on guild mates while they chatter amongst themselves about the usual gossip around town. Let's be honest. Who doesn't like a good gossip here and there? Especially if came from Macao and Wakaba. It was like listening to two housewives prattle on about everything and about anything. It was rather entertaining to say the least and although the celestial wizard would never admit to such a hobby, it was actually one of the highlights of her day.

The squabbling duo sat just two benches behind her. "Hey, you listening to me?" Wakaba nudged the flame users head. "Natsu got a crush. Heard it's for real this time." Lucy resisted the urge to bang her head on the table. "Not this again." Lucy muttered under her breath. She barely recovered from that whole "get Virgo to dig a hole because I want to unbury embarrassing pictures of various members of the guild and use it against them" bit. She felt hoodwinked, scammed even. How dare he trample on a maiden's heart? Doesn't he know how delicate a damsel's heart was? One squeeze and it'll burst into a million pieces of confetti.

Lucy sighed. So much for the highlight of the day.

"Lucy, why the long face?" Erza situated her bottom on the bench across from Lucy. The battle mage offered a bite of her of strawberry cake, which surprised the blonde wizard. There was never a time where she ever witnessed Erza Scarlet offering a portion of her beloved strawberry cake to anyone. Something must be up. "What? Can I not share a piece of my cake to a good friend?"

"Not just any cake, Erza. Its your strawberry cake." The redhead rolled her head back and laughed. "Indeed." The crease from her smile disappeared and morphed into frown. The jocular mien she once displayed switched into seriousness. "Lucy. There comes a time when a boy turns a man and falls in love. I will only say this once but I have you to know that I approve of you. Completely." Confusion struck the celestial mage.

"You approve of me…eating your cake?" Lucy giggled nervously, dread filling her heart for some unknown reason. "No. I mean I approve of you. It takes a real woman to capture Natsu's attention. I feel like a mother hen, releasing her baby chick into the wild." Lucy could've sworn she saw tears in the older woman's eyes. Erza was always one for the dramatic theatrics, but this was a little over the top.

"No, Erza. Not you too. What are you basing your words on? More rumors?"

"Rumors? Lucy, I am not one for rumors. You know that. I got this straight from the horse's mouth." Lucy made an X with her arms. "Nope, not believing you Erza. I fell for Mira-san's words, but I am not falling for yours. Nice try." She stood up and left in a huff. Erza watched the retreating figure of her friend and shrugged.

"She'll find out sooner or later."

…

Lucy stepped out of the bathroom. After such relaxing time in the bath, a good night sleep was all she needed to complete her day.

She blinked.

Once.

Then twice.

And then, three more times.

Natsu was doing push-ups on her bedroom floor. "1002, 1003, 1004, 1005…oh hi Lucy." Happy was copying his actions. "1, 2…" the cat's flimsy arm caved in and he gave up at two. "What are you doing in my house?" She flung a random object towards Natsu's head. He brushed off her attack like nothing had happened and yawned. "Goodnight, Lucy. Can you turn off the lights?" The dragon slayer crawled in her sheets, with Happy in tow. "What part of, my house, don't you understand?" She could already hear him snoring. "That was quick." Her eyelids felt heavy. Now, it was her turn to yawn. Having Natsu beside her at night was usually a daily occurrence, however, an invisible chain shackled her feet.

"I hate you, Erza." Her self-conscious part of her nature was creeping out again. She managed to slide in the covers and pressed a pillow between their bodies. Lucy closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her.

…

In the middle night, the bed shifting around rouses Lucy from her slumber. "Wha-" Her eyes opened up to the Adam's apple of a very familiar person. "Natsu." Did her body snuggle up unconsciously against his welcoming body? She felt something poking her stomach. _That better be that stupid cat down there…but why he be there? _Natsu embraced her tighter. "Natsu."

His heat, his scent, enveloped her senses.

She had to admit, being coiled around him like this ignited a bizarre and yet, euphoric feeling in the pit of her stomach. Lucy looked up at his face. When he slept, one forgets that such a guy could ever level an entire city.

A carefree smile spread across his lips. "Lu…cy…." The fire wizard moaned happily in his sleep. "Lucy."

This might be the other highlight of her day.

...

****Drop a review when you have the time. Thanks and have a nice day.**** **XD**


	2. The Haunting

...

Natsu, everybody's favorite fire breather, wagged a sandy colored paper in front of Lucy. The celestial wizard ignored it at first, since at the moment; she is enjoying a nice plate of breakfast, courtesy of Mirajane. However, she was almost tempted to throw it at his face. Almost, but not quite as she did managed to still her hand. "Yo, Lucy! Where's Gray and Erza. I signed us up for a mission! This looks fun." As if the pair heard Natsu a mile away, Erza and Gray suddenly showed up with the usual suspects following them in tow.

"Mission? Ok lets…" Erza raised hand, causing a tremor of silence from Gray. "Natsu, I am afraid to inform you that I had volunteered for an S-class mission of my own. I am terribly sorry." Natsu was slightly disappointed but what can he do. "All right, I guess its just the four of us then-"

"Juvia and Gray will be departing for a mission later this afternoon." Juvia being Juvia, instinctively rushed over to the scene upon hearing hers and Gray's name in the same sentence. "Gray-sama and Juvia?" A million scenarios galloped across her mind, one prurient than the next.

"Hey, Erza! Don't be making up decisions…on…your…" The ice wizard gulped. Erza's infamous glare that screamed, "It's my way…or do you want to get beat up?" shut him up.

"Problem, Gray?"

"No!" His pitched changed to that of Happy's. "Aye! Juvia and I will be going now!" With Gray out of the picture, Natsu tried to invite Wendy but suspiciously, Erza already had prior "knowledge" of the sky dragon slayer's future endeavor. The young girl couldn't recall that she had ever signed up for anything this week but the thought of facing the S-class wizard's wrath was scary so she played along. "Oh, that's right. Carla and I have something to do. Sorry Natsu-san." [A/N: What is the white cat's name? In the Japanese anime its, "Charuru." In the manga scanlations, sometimes it's "Carla" or "Charles". I have no idea and I'm always confused about this but for all intents and purposes, I'll use Carla. Let me know if you know. Sorry for interrupting.]

Natsu's eyes brightly lit up. "Eh? Okay. I guess it's just you and me, Lucy." Happy landed on the dragon slayer's head." Sorry Happy. I mean it's just us three then. Lucy hurry up and get ready!" He left before she could get a word in. Had she no say in this? _Once again, Lucy. What did you get yourself into?_

Then the atmosphere, specifically around her, changed. Lucy blinked.

The battle mage sat across from her in the same fashion as a few weeks ago, eating the same kind of cake, wearing the same disturbingly placate face that she liked to show…at times. "Erza, are you really busy today?" She boldly asked. To which, the other woman answered with a simple, "Yes." The inquisitor that she is, Lucy wanted more than succinct, "Yes" but despite that, she pried no more. Not from fear (ok, maybe a little from fear) but because she knew no matter how many questions she would set forth, the swordswoman would never budge.

"If you say so say." Lucy hastily finished her meal. _If you say so, Erza._

…

Natsu groaned in agony. His feline friend, who was situated on his shoulder, patted the fire wizard sympathetically on the head. "Why did we have to take the train there?" Lucy merely shook her head. "This was your idea, Natsu. Besides, did you expect us to walk from Magnolia to Cassimir? That would be days worth of travel when we could be there in a matter of hours via train." Lucy changed her attention to the contents of the paper that was posted on the guild board. The pair's task was to obtain a certain pendant in a place called Morrobode hotel. _Sounds simple enough. _The reward for this supposedly easy quest was 100,000 jewels if they delivered it to man named Lukas.

Another painful whimper penetrated her ears. At times like these, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She sighed and moved beside him. With a shift of a hand, Natsu's head was resting on her shoulders. "Just go to sleep, Natsu. I'll wake you up when we get there." Of course, he was way ahead of her. Happy flew down to the celestial wizard's lap for a more comfortable seat. He then covered his small paw over his mouth, holding in a fit of laughter.

"You like him." She flung the winged creature from her lap and blushed. "Shut up, cat!" She knew Happy was just teasing her but she felt her face burn and his hot breath tickling her cheek didn't...help. Lucy leaned back against the headrest and intentionally paid no heed to the soundly noise of her guild mate's breathing. For a guy that was sick just a moment ago, he sure slept quickly. He was starting to make her feel drowsy. _I'll just close my eyes…just for a sec…_

"Miss. Miss. Please wake up." An unfamiliar voice mixed with the sound of Happy's invaded her ears. "Happy?" She stifled a yawn. "Miss, we have arrived at Cassimir station. Can you and your boyfriend leave the train now? It will be leaving shortly for another destination." She dismissed the term the conductor gave Natsu and woke him up. "Natsu, wake up!" Just as fast as he fell asleep, his body erect up and he stretched his strained muscles. "I'm alive! Man, am I hungry! Let's go Happy, Lucy!"

"Aye, sir! I wonder if Cassimir has yummy food?"

"Guess we'll find out, Happy. I feel some chicken right now." The fire breather salivated at the thought of a crispy golden chicken waiting for him somewhere in the city.

Lucy muttered under her breath, "You have such a one track mind."

"What, Lucy?" She reached up to the luggage overhead and brought down her pink bag. "Nothing. We should go before the train start moving." A wave of sickness passed his system and his face was beginning to turn green again. "Think of chicken, Natsu." It helped him cope, until they got off the train.

Upon their arrival at the heart of Cassimir, the first thing on their agenda (Natsu and Happy's that is) was to search for an excellent place to get their grub on. "This looks good." A hand clutched at the edge of his scarf. "We should look for this hotel before anything else." His stomach protested to her idea but he knew she was right. Dejectedly, he agreed. He rubbed his stomach, assuring it that they will be full soon.

With the task at hand, they asked the inhabitants the whereabouts of the hotel. The square was just as lively as Magnolia's but that's where the similarity stops. Everybody that they questioned either refused to talk to them because they were busy or blatantly ignored them. Natsu almost blew a gasket but good thing Lucy was able to pacify him.

"What the hell is up with this place? You'd think we…" He stopped and sniffed his shirt. "You'd think we smell or something. Which we don't! Well I don't at least. Did you take a bath this morning, Lucy?" She looked at the address on the paper and it seemed far from the square as the numbers decreased as supposed to the addresses she had noticed on several of the buildings in town, which went up as they headed deeper into the city. "I highly doubt they're avoiding us on the manner of our hygiene, Natsu."

"If they can't help us, we'll have to find this place ourselves then. This is after all, an official guild business that we gotta complete!" And Lucy couldn't agree more. "My thoughts exactly. Now from the address, our best bet might be in the outskirts of to-"

"Excuse me." A boyish voice a man interrupted Lucy. "I heard you're looking for Morrobode? I can take you there." He raked his messy hazel hair and did his best "smoldering" smile to impress but alas, it went over the blonde wizard's head. That was unfathomable to him, considering that every woman would swoon to his smile. "That's great! Looks like we hit a lucky break, Natsu."

"That you did. I'm Luke by the way." He coiled his hand around hers and dragged her away. "I'm Lucy." Natsu lagged behind and thought he lost Lucy but her sweet scent pervaded in the air so he managed catch up. "I'm Natsu and this is Happy," but Luke barely acknowledged him. "So, Lucy. Why are you looking for Morrobode?" The dragon slayer growled.

Lucy showed the fairy tail insignia on her hand and informed him that it was for a guild mission. "A pendant, you say? Peculiar. There was a fire in Morrobode a year ago and the place never recovered from it. It's abandoned now. Whose pendant does this belong too?" She showed him the paper that was posted on the quest board. Luke's face paled. "I see. There was little girl that died there named Daniela. Look, I don't who or why anybody would do this but you're wasting your time." His demeanor changed drastically, from a kind one to a more aggressive nature. "That pendant's probably gone." Despite his changed in attitude, Luke still led the wizards to the hotel.

The building's structure was similar to their guild, but with several more floors added to the design. "Luke, thank you. Are you all right?" A weak smile marred his face. "Your welcome. Now, finish whatever you have to do. The flooring and ceiling are frail so watch your step. The site will be demolished two days from now so you lot better find your little trinket and leave." When Luke was out of earshot, Natsu scoffed. "What's his problem? Yeah, we'll find our little trinket and leave. Annoying that bastard was."

"Aye! He didn't even say hi to us." Happy gasped. "Did Lucy's charm actually bring him over to us?" There wasn't a day where she wasn't the butt of Happy's jokes. Good thing it doesn't affect her…that much. "Probably not Happy." An invisible boulder of displeasure crashed down her head violently. "Thanks a lot." Lucy looked forward and Natsu was already at the door of the hotel. "Wait up!"

The door creaked open to an open foyer, with an enormous chandelier hanging from above. The carpet has been charred to an unrecognizable color and the odor reeked of burnt wood and among other things. A single step on the fragile surface of the floor created a disturbingly rasp from the floorboards. "So, where do you think the pendant would be?" The door that Natsu had trouble opening suddenly slammed shut causing Lucy and Happy to jump. She gripped Natsu's muscled arm tightly while Happy hid in…her blouse?

The cat's head poke out of her clothes. "Happy, why are you hiding in there?"

"Because, I'm a cat." _Right. That makes sense._

"I think we should come back another day. What do you say, Natsu." He frowned. "We gotta see this to the end." Natsu grinned his own boyish smile and it somehow appeased her haywire nerves. "Just hold my hand if you're scared."

The duo started their exploration of the area slowly. Every noise startled Lucy (and Happy), however, Natsu started a conversation that miraculously abated her (and Happy's) fear. Once their trek around the hotel was done, they found themselves back to the entrance.

"Nothing. Maybe that Luke bastard was right."

Out of the blue, the chandelier above them began to shake nosily, like an earthquake was hitting the place. It snapped from its clasp, threatening to crush anybody that stood below it. "Lucy!" It happened so unexpectedly and before you know it, Lucy was sprawled on the floor with Natsu protectively shielding her with his body. The wreckage of the chandelier was nearby their feet while smog of dust and ash enclosed around from the impact. "You okay?" She opened her eyes. Piercing charcoal eyes kept her from looking away. "Lucy." His head was beginning to lean towards hers until…

His furry friend's soft head stopped the fire wizard's action. "I'm okay, Natsu. Lucy, are you hurt?" Natsu scratched the cat's head and stood up, removing his welcoming heat from her body. He helped her up.

Then, something glittered from afar. "What's that?" A black vase that wasn't tipped over on an aged looking coffee table was now nearing the border of the surface and if wasn't for Natsu, it would've shattered on the ground. "A pendant?" The small tremor from the chandelier fall must have knocked the vase over; at least that was Lucy's logic for the occurrence. He stroke some of the dust from the front of the necklace with his thumb and aside from that small patch of dirt he brushed off, it was unscathed, untouched by the cruel fire of a year ago.

It clicked open and Natsu thought he broke it. "Crap!" But, inside the locket was a picture of a young man, holding a smiling little girl. "This guy's face is like that Luke guy."

"Not like, Natsu. This is Luke. We should take this back to him. With enough persistence, we could get the townsfolk to tell us where he lives." For some strange reason, Natsu became irritated at the thought of seeing that guy again. "Sure."

When they exited the hotel, a figure in the distance waited for them.

"Luke! Hey." The man's features was ridden with guilt. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you all earlier. I got upset when I read my little sister's name on that paper you have." Lucy relinquished the locket they had found. "How?" He closed his eyes, fearing that the tears would come crashing down if he didn't. "My little sister was Daniela. I was out of town at the time and I return to…I was unable to save her." She attempted to console him. "Don't blame yourself."

"I could have this?" Lucy and Natsu stared at each other. "Sure, we were supposed to give it to man named Lukas...of course." How she didn't put this together sooner, she would never know. "You are Lukas." Luke chuckled. "That I am." He looked at the pair. "I didn't write the post but I suppose a reward is at hand." Natsu gave him a strong pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Lukas. But you could treat us to dinner. I am hungry!"

And truly, that was enough reward for them.

…

"Natsu, the train isn't even moving yet." He was preparing himself for inevitable motion sickness. "I don't care Lucy!" After the events from yesterday, the Fairy Tail wizards took refuge in Lukas's apartment for the night. It saved them the fare of paying a hotel for a room. "I hope Lukas will be okay."

"I'm sure you can visit him anytime." There was a twinge of hostility in his tone. That made no sense to her.

The train's whistle blew and Natsu's stomach was starting to churn. He should have never eaten so much earlier. Of course, Lucy knew better as she sat beside him instead of her usual sitting arrangement.

She opened her small hands and showed it to him. "You can hold my hand if you want." She was repeating some of his words from yesterday. He accepted and as soon as the train moved, he was as helpless as a newborn baby. Natsu squeezed her hand firmly the whole entire ride, but she didn't mind.

"Hmmm…" Something still nagged at her from this quest. If Lukas didn't request for this, then who did? She unfolded the paper one last time and nothing changed, at first glance.

"What's this?" There was something written at the right hand corner of the paper.

"Thank you." It read. Lucy smiled.

"You're welcome."

...

**So hey, guys! I wasn't really planning to continue this but heck why not. It probably wont have any plot. I just want to write predicaments and put our favorite NaLu in it. The title will stay the same because I'm too lazy to come up with a better title.**

**And geez. Thanks for all the favorites. It might not seem a lot for some but its the most I've gotten for a single chapter fanfic so thank you! **

** Expect an update...at random times. Sorry, I can't put a fixed update day at the moment so expect the unexpected. Okay, thanks for reading and I hope you all have a pleasant day/night/whatever.**


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